Just 5 Minutes
by JTRaccoon715
Summary: Who needs weapons or superpowers to trouble the Loonatics? All that is needed are ideas. Takes place between Season 1 and 2. Rated T for the ending.
1. The Invitation

**The Invitation**

_Acmetropolis, 2774. _

Tech works in his lab, refining the design on the molecular reconstructor so it can be made smaller and more powerful. Rev works at a blur, very handy for putting ideas into action at an instant.

"Quasarlinium wires." Tech commands, before he completes the sentence, they're in his hands.

"Leranium alloy plating." Tech asks, it's there in a flash.

"Graphene coated bolts, there, that should do it." Tech says, slightly proud of his improvements.

"Wow, a 35% reduction in size by my preliminary calculations but that's only by using my eyesight if I use my GPS to measure the device we see it's actually a 37.3% reduction in size I can't believe it Tech, you even impressed me." Rev replies as his usual quick but somehow still understandable pace, the clarity of his voice enables him to do this.

"Don't be, it was child's play." Tech replies. Suddenly, Ace appears on the monitor.

"Someone's on the line with a highly encrypted message come in here quick." Ace commands them, they both leave their workstations to the main living area that looks over all of Acmetropolis, with no building coming anywhere close to the heights of their spear shaped tower. Tech comes into the room where the message is being displayed, waiting to be decrypted, which Tech does easily despite the Class Z classification.

"Greetings Loonatics, I'm The Traveller, host of my hard hitting galactic talk show 'The Meeting", and I want one of you to join me as my show comes to Acmetropolis. I understand you don't accept monetary payment, but I will make it worth your while."

Everything appears to fall in line for Duck; money and fame, all at once!

"My viewers are really excited to see one of you on the show, it's going to be a ratings hit."

"Can I? Can I! Please, please, please." Duck pleads to Ace.

"My only request is that Duck does not come on the show. My viewers want to see an intellectual conversation, not a promotion for any one of his many enterprises on the side; you should really look into those." The traveller warns. Even Ace is surprised about that.

"I won't hold back, I will ask the difficult questions, it's why my show is so popular; A beacon of thought in an increasingly simplified world. My ship will arrive in 24 hours, a reply as to who will be on the show will help me with my preparation. Bye." The traveller farewells as he disappears off the screen.

"So does anyone know anything about what he's talking about?" Ace asks, naturally turning to Tech.

"The Meeting isn't just some talk show, guests are known for reacting violently on the show, walking off stage and throwing insults in response to questions that hit their deepest, darkest secrets. Some even go into hiding over the things they say." Tech explains.

"Like about these 'side projects', Duck?" Ace asks, turning menacingly towards the diminutive duck.

"Okay, it's just one construction company, how else are we meant to have our lifestyle without money?" Duck replies. Ace suspects there's more.

"And a few product placements." Duck says, becoming more afraid as Ace stares deeper into him from above. "And a planet-wide advertising campaign, that's all I swear!"

"Strange, I haven't seen any of these adverts of yours." Lexi replies. "What kind of cape do you plan to wear?"

"They're not even aired, not even made, I only agreed to do these yesterday. Unless he has some kind of time machine, He could not have known!" Duck replies.

"I say we decline his little offer and get back to work." Ace postulates, but Tech explains the reasons why they can't back out.

"It's not that simple, I've watched his show over the last year. If guests don't turn up, he replaces them with holograms programed to answer his questions however he wants, even if the answers are false. These holograms are basically perfect, no one can tell the difference until it's too late, once what's said is said, it's out in the open, recorded and sent to himself backwards through time just in case anyone tries to reverse it."

"We'll just block his signal, force him off the air." Ace reasons.

"Not everyone can encrypt a message to class Z, I should know, I designed it." Tech explains. "I suspect he knows a thing or two about technology.

"Hmm, okay Tech, since you've watched his show, you should go on the air. You'll have all the answers, you're the smartest coyote in existence." Ace explains.

"Ahem." Duck interrupts. "I want to go on the air, the camera loves me more than any one of you."

"The average IQ of his audience is 110, you're just not smart enough." Tech replies in an appropriately sensitive way.

"Hey, I'm smart enough!" Duck replies, not allowing his pride to go down his throat. Tech grabs a tablet and a stylus and writes an algebraic equation for Duck to solve. "Anyone who's completed school can solve for x."

Tech walks to the sofa and sits down as Duck tries to focus his brain on the simple linear algebraic equation.

"What's the point of this? We have computers that do this for us!" Duck replies.

"Maybe you're suited to the trashy celebrity shows instead of some intellectual debate." Lexi replies.

"I've had it with your insults!" Duck ragingly says, ready to release one of his eggs at Lexi, hoping it could contribute to evening the score for all of the times she's brain blasted him and for all of the times she's insulted him on a daily basis. Ace quickly moves to calm him down.

"Duck, hold fire! Maybe you better stay here with Slam and watch the place in case anything happens, order in pizza and watch as we show him that he doesn't know anything." Ace explains.

Slam exclaims gleefully at the prospect of pizza in an indecipherable way.

"Wait, we?" Tech asks.

"If us 4 go on altogether, we can cover each other in case anything goes wrong. It's 4 of us against one of him." Ace reasons.

"I don't think it's going to help, but I would feel better if you guys came, I'm not exactly… camera happy." Tech explains.

"Which is why I have to come!" Duck interrupts again.

"Have you solved that equation yet?" Tech asks.

"You turned off all communication on this tablet thingy, how else am I meant to solve it?" Duck asks.

"With that tiny pea that's inside your head." Lexi replies.

"That's it!" Duck replies, throwing the tablet to the ground as hard as he can but it doesn't break because Tech made it. He readies his eggs to fire against Lexi. Ace takes his sword and extends it to full length to deflect all of Duck's attempts to get back at Lexi.

"I know we like to make fun of Duck, but maybe we need to lay off of him, maybe somewhere side that thick skull of yours is a real, mature hero." Ace explains.

"I'll show who's mature!" Duck says, but as soon as he's said, he realises he has yet again dug himself into another hole he can't get himself out of.

Slam then tells Duck something.

"I know, I'll order enough pizza, at least I have the money to pay for it!" Duck replies.

* * *

><p><strong>This is my first upload in around one and a half months. I hope now that I can contribute more regularly to fanfiction and actually have the conviction to post the things I write (that's probably the hardest thing to do).<strong>


	2. The All In

**The All In**

_**36 hours later.**_

The 4 Loonatics, Ace, Lexi, Rev and Tech arrive at The Traveller's ship that acts as a mobile studio. It's parked at one of the spaceports on the coast of Acmetropolis. As the four of them walk up to the ship, the door automatically opens for them and they obligingly walk inside, up the metal ramp to the ship's main deck where a space the size of a tennis court contains what looks like the personal living quarters of the Traveller, but Tech looks to the left and sees the table where all of the interviews take place.

"Wow, I didn't realise everything would be so cramped." Tech explains.

"Indeed it is." The Traveller says as he swivels around on a floating armchair in front of a TV screen that has the security feed for his ship live. The Traveller is slightly shorter than Rev, with short dark brown hair and a tan overcoat that covers his blue shirt and black pants; most notably for Tech, he's wearing no shoes.

"Your shoes." Tech asks.

"It's one of my few remaining secrets that only my guests know about. All of interviews are done barefoot. It's what i prefer" The Traveller explains. "It's an honour to meet you all in the flesh."

The Traveller gets out of the chair and walks up to them.

"It's like my homecoming, coming back to Acmetropolis after the past tear or so, if only for an hour. It's become too dangerous for my liking." The traveller explains. "I was a student at Acmetropolis University, theorising the metaphysical properties of universe."

"So you must know Tech." Ace replies.

"Metaphysics is not a science per se, but it's philosophy, trying to understand the universe and everything that happens within. But when the meteor struck and wiped everything out, I got away on this abandoned ship, fearing societal collapse, but I continued to regroup with people I knew and that's where I got my idea to start this talk show where I ask other the sort of questions I ask myself. Why are we here? What is our purpose? I call myself the Traveller because I travel the universe to find people who can answer these questions, hoping that they can further out collective understanding of the universe." The Traveller explains. "I ask very specific questions, very hard questions which it turns out a lot of people want to be answered. So, you have been warned. The show starts in 7 minutes, so I want you at the table with 2 minutes to go. If you want to talk privately, go outside, this ship's surveillance systems are as sensitive as… those, beautiful ears…"

The Traveller goes into a trance like state, staring directly at Lexi. He walks over to her and as he stops just in front of her. A piece of the floor rises up from underneath him by about 10 cm to allow him to see directly eye to eye without the height disadvantage.

"I don't think you remember me, Lexi, but I remember you. I only saw you once for a few seconds, just walking along the corridor, coming towards me. I can reimagine that moment exactly as it happened. As soon as I saw you, I knew you were something truly, special. The world suddenly became narrower, tightly focused on you with no distractions. The sounds all fading into one dull blur that settles down so that even the sound of your blinking can be heard. It was one of my final memories from before the impact, I will never forget that, but even more so was the moment I saw you again, from the destruction I cowardly ran away from, you became… perfect, no! more than perfect. Now, here, with that more than perfect hair, more than perfect eyes, more than perfect everything. I can confirm to my own senses that…, that… Damn it! I lost the word!" The Traveller shouts away from her. "Would you excuse me?"

The Traveller runs away into a room in the far side of the ship and the sliding metal door shuts to shield him from the embarrassment. Tech sees what's happening on one section of the screen that shows the security camera footage, the destruction of a bedroom, piece by piece. Ace is, moved, shocked and speechless. Only able to look across to Lexi to see how she feels. Ace may have fought many a beast, all of them have; however, this is something else. Something that Ace can't fully explain, or even wants or is even able to bring up; given the things he has experienced. In fact, none of them can even comprehend such an all in move, not of force, but of words, that has paralysed them more effectively than the Jade Serpent, Glucogel or any prison cell invented.

"Lex?" Ace asks, like he's been kicked in the stomach; out of breath. She's activated her super hearing to hear what he's saying inside, it quickly becomes too much so she stops.

"I've never heard anyone say anything like that about me." Lexi replies, hush and slowly. "Sure, some people admire me… but nothing so… poetic, and beautiful."

"I could go into the details, but this is what can only be described as love, not that I, have any experience myself." Tech explains, looking down to his feet after succumbing to his own words.

"He's trying to disturb us, throw us off guard." Ace says, moving naturally into his 'hero' persona.

"I need a minute." Lexi replies, heading for the exit, bordering on emotionally letting go.

"Lexi, wait!" Ace replies, holding her back by her arm.

"Please, I just…" Lexi says, escaping from Ace's grasp and running out of the ship. The other three stand there and watch as she runs from sight.

"I'm going after her." Ace says, rushing out of the ship to chase after Lexi. "You two start without us."

Ace runs after Lexi through the spaceport terminal, with Lexi not using energy, but emotion.

"Lexi!" Ace shouts as he chases her down. Lexi turns her head and readies herself for a brain blast.

"I need to be alone Ace!" She shouts before blasting it at his feet. Ace dives to the right out of the way of her powerful blast that rips a hole in the concrete nearly half a metre deep. It's at that moment that Ace stops chasing and watches as she runs away, further and further with each step. Ace gets on the communicator to HQ.

"Duck, come in." Ace commands.

"What? What do you want?" Duck asks, clearly annoyed.

"Lexi's gone AWOL, I need you to get her back to HQ, she's been through some… tough times, so take it easy, or you won't have any feathers left."

"Oh, it's not like I have problems of my own." Duck replies, showing Ace the mess that Slam has caused from eating basically everything they have.

"We've got bigger problems." Ace reminds him. "I'm activating her GPS locator, find her quickly before she does anything rash."

The real time coordinates of Lexi are uploaded to Duck's communicator.

"Hurry up, I've got to get back to Tech and Rev." Ace explains before shutting it off. He doesn't immediately run back to the ship, he pauses briefly, to try and empathise with her, but it doesn't work. He lacks the necessary feelings and emotions to do so.


	3. The Meeting

**The Meeting**

Focusing back on the task at hand, he runs back to the ship and back into the door. Rev and Tech are sitting on the left side of the table and the Traveller on the right side, with tech sitting the closest to the Traveller. Three cameras are set up to capture the interview: one in the centre and the other two focusing on both sides of the table. The Traveller doesn't look to be affected by anything he did previously, he seems normal again.

"Ace, where's Lexi?" Tech asks.

"How much time is left?"

"25 seconds." Rev answers in less than half a second.

"No time to explain, Duck's going to take her back to HQ. Let's get this over with." Ace says fiercely.

"15 seconds, good luck." The Traveller utters as a visible timer hovers over the centre camera. The room is dead silent for until the Traveller breaks his silence to begin the show.

"Good evening from across the galaxy, I'm here in the planet city of Acmetropolis for the first time after the devastating meteor impact wreaked havoc on it's inhabitants, millions perished, but from the ashes, heroes rise; and we are all privileged to have some of them here tonight. Please welcome, Tech, Rev, and their leader Ace."

There is no audience, so it's just silence from behind the table. The traveller waits for a few seconds for the applause that the audience is doing from behind their TV screens.

"Can I just say I've watched many of your shows. It's an honour to be on the other side of the camera." Tech replies.

"The honour is all mine, it's not everyday that we get to have people like you on the show, I've had academics, enigmatic personalities and leaders from all fields on here, but I can honestly say that I've never had crime fighting superheroes behind this desk."

Tech chuckles at all of this flattery.

"Since you watch my show you know I like to thoroughly prepare with some information on who I'm interviewing, I want to know what you think I'm going to ask first."

"You're going to start with my history before the meteor." Tech says, the Traveller shakes his head.

"That's too easy for someone like you to answer. I'm going to ask; Have you noticed that nearly everything in the team goes through you and Ace? Between you two I say you contribute about say 75% to your team. What do you think of that?

"I wouldn't say that everything goes though the two of us." Tech replies, looking across to Ace.

"I think that if you two were the only ones to acquire powers, the planet would still be in good hands." the Traveller reasons.

"Everyone matters." Ace buts in, as if the Traveller is insulting the other members of his team. "All of us matter, to say that any of us matter more than each other is wrong. It's like you only watching Trick Daley play for the Rangers, you forget to see everyone else on the team that helps him."

"I couldn't have said it better myself Ace." Rev replies.

"Now, Rev. Boy, how would I sum up you in a word? I think I would use the word, underappreciated." The Traveller explains. "Most people probably don't recognise that you're actually really smart, your memory is especially incredible."

"Why thanks I've always been good at memory games like matching pairs I can play that game with a deck of cards in 3 seconds flat." Rev explains quickly.

"And what's also not recognised, maybe not even by yourself, is… well, What motivates you to be a crime fighter?"

"Well technically I'm not concerned with the money, power or fame that comes from fighting crime or being a superhero but it comes from probably a repressed childhood memories of being alone and different and always falling short of the mark at everything unable to succeed much at anything even when I know that I've tried my hardest I know that clock was off by at least 2 minutes I was on time I say I was on time!" Rev explains at pace. Ace and Tech stare at Rev, confused at how his inner feelings have seemingly spilled out of him, revealing a new dimension of Rev none of them have seen before.

"Was it something I said?" Rev asks. The Traveller moves on.

"Ace."

"Yep." Ace replies, trying to appear indifferent in order to not succumb to any questions that would play right into his hands.

"You seem to spend nearly all of your waking hours, training, you never seem to be able relax."

"Being a superhero is a full-time job." Ace replies.

"I once heard this fascinating quote; that heroes can't exist in a vacuum. Would you say that you've always tried to avoid being that vacuum? Because you've essentially chased action at nearly every stage of your life through video games, action comics, action movies, action everything. You were also a stuntman…" The Traveller explains.

"Stunt bunny." Ace corrects.

"… stunt bunny, I apologise, in the movie industry. Now you're a superhero. I can't imagine anything more action packed than being a superhero. I wonder when it gets boring, what else could you move on to?"

"Boring?" Ace asks in confusion.

"You seem to be addicted to action, seeking greater fixes each time, but the effects of doing one thing wear off over time, causing you to move to something more action packed. It's why you probably train for hours on end. I wonder, what can possibly be more action packed than being a superhero?" The Traveller asks.

"The time when I'll be bored of being a superhero is when I'll be dead, and that's not going to happen for a long, long time." Ace replies. The sheer casual nature of how he said it shocks everyone at the table, the seriousness of the comment is not ignored either.

"Okay… you're clearly very serious about the being a superhero." the Traveller asks, feeling intimidated.

"With great power comes great responsibility." Ace replies.

"Now I want to move onto something that all of you can answer if possible, it's how you fund all your activities. Tech's weapons are not cheap I assume, as well as your outfits and your headquarters which even I can see here from ship. Who's paying for all of this?"

"Um." Ace hesitates. "We have a wealthy benefactor who funds all of our activities. We are not paid by the military or the government, the only other source the gifts that we receive from the public." Ace explains cautiously.

"Care to share with us who it is?"

"No." Ace replies.

"It's not Duck is it? He's the one making the most coin out of you all." The Traveller asks.

"No." Ace replies.

"Not Tech selling his inventions?"

"I don't sell any of my inventions." Tech answers.

"What about that sword that you carry Ace, did Tech invent that?" The Traveller asks, trying to reach deeper and get the reaction he wants.

"It was given to me." Ace explains, showing the handle with the blade stored inside.

"By who?"

"Our wealthy benefactor." Ace replies.

"Does this 'wealthy benefactor' influence you in any way because of the money that is supplied? Is your hero work conditional on receiving money?" The Traveller asks. Ace doesn't want to answer the question so he remains silent.

"Do any of you two know anything?" The Traveller asks. Tech and Rev shake their heads, as clueless as each other about what Ace might be hiding from them.

"My point is this. You're being played; you're only as independent as you are financially secure. I guess you're taking direct orders from this benefactor in exchange for money. But what naturally follows from any trade is what does this benefactor get in return? Do any of you know the answer?" The Traveller asks.

"I have an idea." Tech says. "But you're not going to hear it, come on, we're leaving."

Everyone else gets out of their seats and leaves, with Rev disappearing in a flash from the ship, pausing only to open the door before zipping out of the door with a blazed trail of fire. The Traveller sits in his seat as the cameras pan across to Tech and Ace walking out of the ship with not a single acknowledgement of the Traveller's existence.

"Well, that takes the walkout tally to 47; that means that only 4 guests have been able to stay put and get through the entire length of questioning. Next, in a change of pace, we speak to the citizens of Acmetropolis nearly 17 months after the meteor impact and ask how, if anything, it's changed them." The Traveller continues; the show must go on.


	4. The Reflection

**The Reflection**

**HQ**

Looking at this statue always changes her feelings about herself. Heroic, uncomfortable, attractive, lauded, acknowledged and a range of other things change her mind each time. She looks up to herself, a bronzed statue in a near perfect replica of her posing at a 45 degree angle down a paved pathway, as if she was taking a step forward. It's a place she knows of, but doesn't come here often. Now she is here to look at herself and figure out what to feel next. She hears something in the distance, the sound of a jetpack too far away to even see. Ace has probably sent for someone to come for her; but she wants to be the opposite, alone. She runs away from the statue and towards the locked doors of the university. The doors, for all their security, can't hold her back. She knocks them down with a powerful kick that rips the locked metal doors off their hinges before running inside past the wreckage. She's looking for the place that the Traveller was talking about. Her eyes aren't leading the way; her ears are echolocating the correct place because sounds have become more prominent in her memory as her own hearing has significantly improved. To some extent, she could find the place blindfolded.

Eventually, she reaches the place she thinks he's talking about. A long line of lockers that lead to a set of double doors to the hall where cheerleading tryouts were being performed just before the meteor hit. She walks slowly to where she suspects it might have been, right near the men's changing rooms. She can't remember where everyone was standing, or if she recognises in her memory a face that matches the once she saw earlier. However, she can pinpoint an area where he must have seen her. She walks to the very start of this predicted area, the furthest point from the hall, and walks towards it slowly in the near flawless silence imagining what it might have been like. She gets near to the end of her walk, but the silence is disturbed by someone quacking in.

"Lexi, thank goodness you're here!" Duck exclaims with his jetpack retracting to the size of a backpack.

"Ace sent you, didn't he, thanks for the concern." Lexi replies. "But I want to be alone for now."

"You don't want to be alone." Duck says. "You want to talk."

"You don't know what I'm thinking of, I want to be alone!" Lexi says, her eyes glowing pink, ready to strike Duck for the umpteenth time.

"No! No! Wait!" Duck says before quacking away. Lexi stops her attack, waiting for Duck to reappear. He reappears behind her. "It's love."

"Love?" Lexi asks, more to herself and to how duck knows that she knows.

"Don't act so superior." Duck explains with his arms folded in front of him. "It's all over you. I've seen you act so uncomfortably in your life."

"What do you know about love?" Lexi asks as she leans back against a set of lockers.

"Well, I may not be able to solve that equation that Tech gave me, but I do know about love." Duck answers. "Because I love money."

"But money can't tell you how much it loves you." Lexi explains.

"Oh yes it does!" Duck answers. "I hear it calling my name all the time."

"That's stupid, if it could then I would hear it." Lexi answers. She does have a point, but Duck is still incensed.

"Just because money can't talk back to me in a way even you can't hear it, which I might add is a good thing, doesn't mean I don't love it." Duck explains. However, Lexi is making him feel like that what example he can give, it will never be an adequate comparison to what she has felt.

"I need to be alone." Lexi repeats.

"Well okay then, but only 5 minutes, then I'm getting you out of here." Duck says, walking away from the scene. Lexi repeats the same thing she tried before, walking slowly and going back to when life for her was actually more complicated and more difficult than what it is for now. Before it was a whole multitude of personal and internal issues in the quagmire of social interaction that happens at university. Now it's clearly defined; she is a superhero with no other concerns than saving the world. However, she's slowly returned to that emotionally cloudy state she's yet to visit in a long while, where the prime motivation is conscious concerted thought and not an impending threat.

The emotion takes a toll on her, unable to focus clearly on what she has to do next. It's to take those feelings and bury them deep where nothing can make them erupt. Distractions would take her away from what her duty is; no doubt it would cause Ace to straighten her out. She leans back on a set of lockers and slides down until she's sitting on the cold hard ground, staring directly across the hall. She takes the glove off of her left hand to compare the pale blond coloured hand against the pink glove covered right. If there is one thing she realises from doing this, it is this: that her powers will be with her, regardless of whether or not her outfit is on or anything else she chooses. This is who she is now, and she does not want to change it. The past is in the past, no one would dare displace time by a magnitude of one and a half years, and no matter how great a display of affection she has been shown, it won't change who she now is.

She picks herself up from the floor simply by standing up, not with some energetic flip or otherwise. Lexi slowly walks forward to the exit, increasing in pace the more she tries to forget about what happened. As soon as she reaches the exit, she can hear the distinct whooshing sound Rev makes whenever he is at top speed, perhaps the only brief warning anyone gets before he arrives. The roadrunner stops right in front of Lexi.

"Lexi, thank goodness you're okay or didn't do anything stupid because perhaps your brain was all over the place." Rev explains.

"I'm fine, really, I am." Lexi answers.

"Because I know that I wouldn't be able to take it if someone said anything that nice to me on a personal level which of course no one ever has I've never experienced anywhere that close." Rev says before getting on his knees to beg at Lexi, holding her around the waist. "Why does no one ever love as much as you, why?!"

Rev starts sobbing at a rapid pace. Lexi, meanwhile, is completely confused at Rev's actions. He completely stops and stands up as if nothing happened, like there is a predator about to eat him.

"Please don't tell anyone that I said that." Rev says, ashamed of how his inhibitions have lowered to rock bottom, allowing his deepest feelings to be released before it's too late to self censor them; which is indeed a very short time. They both look up to see Ace and Tech flying in on their jetpacks. They both land and walk up to Lexi, aware that they will have to be sensitive with their words.

"Let's get back to HQ and, well… we'll sort all this out." Ace instructs, more quietly than usual.

"Yeah." Lexi replies. "Let's go."

It's one of the reasons why she and indeed everyone respects Ace, because he is such a great leader. Like he said, 'with great power come great responsibility', and he's certainly embraced the responsibility side of that equation. Definitely more than the one who has just quacked in a little too late. Duck arrives on the scene only to see the other Loonatics leaving the area.

"Hey guys, wait for me!" Duck says before flying off with his jetpack.


	5. The Discussion

**The Discussion**

**HQ**

"I told you there would be a mess!" Duck replies as they all see the strewn food containers and packaging strewn everywhere with Slaw standing in the thick of it as if it wasn't his fault.

"Rev, do you mind?" Ace asks. It takes less than 10 seconds for Rev to clean up the main area of all food-based debris. "We really appreciate it."

"Thanks Ace, just doing my job, I mean what other uses are there for super speed other than to do tasks you'd normally do except much faster." Rev answers.

"Lexi, whatever you need, we'll help you out." Ace says understandingly, put his arm around her shoulder.

"I just need to, think it over some more." Lexi says, heading to her room.

"In case there's an end of the world crisis." Tech begins to explain. "I have a serum that can stabilise your emotions temporarily."

"Drugs?" Lexi replies somewhat in disgust. "Really?"

"It's what I saw the Traveller use after running into his room, it's how he was so calm and focused during the interview after being in emotional ruin." Tech explains.

"How did that actually go?" Lexi asks. Rev disappears in a flash and into his room.

"We walked off, but nearly all of his guests do; it's why it's fun to watch." Tech explains.

"I though this was about an intellectual conversation?" Duck asks, placing more emphasis on the longer polysyllabic words to demonstrate his intelligence.

"It is, until the end." Tech answers. "I mean, what would anyone expect? We're not publicity hungry celebrities."

They all turn to Duck.

"You're just jealous." Duck answers back.

"Wait." Ace realises. "I think I know why he didn't want Duck to be on the show."

"He said it, I'm not intelligence!" Duck answers ironically.

"Tech, he said all of the guests were professors, smart guys like yourself." Ace asks.

"You're saying there's another reason why he needs to have smart people on the show?" Tech asks back.

"It's not exactly because of intelligence." Ace answers. "It's to do with how people think, Duck thinks differently to all of us. I don't know the word."

"Rationality." Tech answers. "Duck, your irrational decision making combined with your low intelligence and impulsive behaviour makes you the perfect candidate to confuse a highly rational person like the Traveller, as well as all of us on a daily basis."

"See, I knew there was a reason why being not smart would be good." Duck exclaims.

"Yeah, no. But if there was someone who had 'annoying' as a super power, it's you." Lexi replies, still not moved from where she stopped to listen to their new plan. Maybe she's okay for now, but she still walks off so she can at least get some alone time.

"There should still be some time left on his show." Tech explains. "Duck, you fly over there and embarrass him the way you embarrass yourself."

"Okay!" Duck says, finally knowing that he's got a role to play, only realising later that he's been made the butt of the joke again. "I'll get you for that."

Duck flies away over the city.

"We better get the popcorn ready, this is going to be interesting." Ace says.

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter is a bit short, but I hope the next one will make up for that.<strong>


	6. The Suspension

**The Suspension**

"I'm pretty sure you stole the design straight from him." The traveller answers through a transmitter to a scientist he's interviewing remotely from the comfort of his ship. However, his talk is stopped quickly as Duck teleports inside the ship from behind the camera.

"My, what have we here, Danger Duck has unexpectedly joined us." The Traveller introduces. The cameras pan over to where Duck is standing but he quacks away from them and into a seat on the other side of the table where he leans back and puts his feet up on the desk. The cameras turn back to face the table.

"Alright, smarty pants, why did you not want me on the show?" Duck asks despite having heard the reason why earlier.

"It's my talk show, I ask the questions."

"No, I believe this is my talk show now, so I'll be doing the talking." Duck shouts back.

The Traveller is silent, trying to find a way out of this.

"I like the way you think." The Traveller comments, somehow in admiration.

"You do?" Duck asks confusingly.

"Yes, you do like to own things, don't you?" The Traveller asks.

"Don't change the subject, you didn't want me on the show because you're afraid of me; just like all the bad guys out there. When they hear the name Danger Duck, ha! They run for their mothers if they're not already locked up in space prison." Duck tirades.

"How about…" The Traveller begins to ask but he's cut off by the loudest voice in the room.

"How about you go to your bedroom because the camera loves me."

"Why don't you get back in the water!" The Traveller shouts, not even getting anywhere near to insulting Duck, who has heard every combination of insult expressed in every single way.

"Why don't you get off the air?" Duck says with the come back.

"Get out of here!" The Traveller shouts, loosing his temper whilst trying to chase down duck how simply teleports to the other side of the room. "Turn off the cameras!"

"If you're asking me then I won't do it." Duck comments calmly before quacking to the other side of the table just as the Traveller is about to grab him.

"Stop teleporting, it's unfair." The Traveller complains as he stands in the middle of the ship, trying to flush Duck out of the corner and catch him at the location he teleports to.

"Is praying on the secrets of people for a few cheap laughs fair?" Duck asks rhetorically before quacking to the exact same spot as a taunt.

"I've had it!" The Traveller shouts, reaching under the table for a button of some description, it cause the table to turn 90 degrees to a vertical position like a barrier about 1.5 metres high and almost as wide as the ship except for a metres clearance on each side. The cameras retract away into the roof and Duck takes a step back to size up this new situation that has happened. The Traveller appears from behind the table away from the door, holding a medium sized ranged weapon of some description.

"Walk off my ship now, or I'll blast you off." The Traveller warns.

"What if I run instead?" Duck asks, it causes the Traveller to contract his index finger, firing the gun and releasing an energy blast that Duck dodges easily by diving to his left. It only succeeds in putting a small crater in the floor of the ship. Duck then readies one of his tar eggs and throws it right at the weapon's barrel and landing in the very centre, going down the barrel and clogging it up full of tar, making it unable to fire.

"Lucky shot, but I've got 5 more." The Traveller says, picking up an identical weapon from behind the table. This makes Duck teleport out of the ship, the Traveller interprets this a fear.

"Pathetic, annoying creature." The Traveller comments to himself as he turns the table to the right way up. He stands up to sit down on a seat to reflect on this negative spat that wouldn't be good for ratings. He looks up and sees that not only Duck has returned but it's the entire set of Loonatics who stand before him.

"Pathetic, no. Annoying, yes." Ace replies to the Traveller about Duck.

"That's impossible." The Traveller replies. "You weren't in the room, you couldn't even…"

He turns to his definition of perfection, and realises how.

"But… why can you do this to me? After what I did to you." The Traveller asks, on the verge of sobbing at the perceived betrayal he has experienced.

"I don't know." Lexi condescendingly remarks. "how about all of those missing guests, the ones that have gone into 'hiding'?

The Traveller stays silent, wondering what to do next. Ace can sense what he's about to do, it's that combination of fear mixed with an intense build up of courage in order to make such a great effort at what he's about to try. Ace takes one step and leaps forward with power, taking his sword in midair and extending it to full length before landing on the table and slicing in half the energy weapon; pointed at the Traveller, by the Traveller.

"Just, no." Ace says with his sword pointed downwards towards the wrecked weapon. The Traveller backs away into a corner whilst on the ground with scurried backward movements of his hands and knees. He makes one look to his right around the table, one last desperate and far-fetched hope.

"Lexi! Help!" He shouts, but Lexi is unmoved, unchanged and unaffected. A show of indifferent disgust stares directly into his eyes as Ace grabs him from under the armpits and thrusts him against the wall with his feet not touching the ground.

"You're worse than any villain I've seen." Ace sneers from close range. "You don't even have the guts to stand up for your actions and face the consequences."

Ace lets go and he falls to the ground.

"Get the police." Ace instructs to the others, possibly even sorry that they had to see this, before turning back to the coward lying before him. "Prison is going to make you think about what happened here for the rest of your life."

The police arrive and take the Traveller away to the subterranean prison whilst also searching the spaceship for anything else incriminating, such as the weapons under the table and a large supply of illegal chemicals used to make the emotion stabilising serum.

"I'm confused, can you really get life in prison just for shooting a weapon, even if it doesn't hit anything?" Duck asks as they recover in the sanctity of HQ. Everyone else but Duck, and to a lesser extent Tech and Ace, are a bit shaken up.

"It wasn't just for that." Tech answers, focusing on this question is good for his mental state because it means he can't think about what he's seen. "There were a few guests on his show that went into hiding because of what they said, based on what we saw, I they're were actually… forced into permanent hiding."

"They were killed." Ace bluntly adds, ruining the delicacy that Tech attempted to provide. Ace moves to address them all in a somewhat sombre mood.

"I'm sorry about what happened even though it wasn't my fault."

"But you saved his life!" Duck adds, not grasping fully what has happened. Lexi half turns to him in an almost sorry fashion. Ace pauses just to let Duck slow down a bit and get with the current mood.

"For anyone to try that, to even think about trying that… I don't want to talk about it. But I just want to be sure that you're all okay."

"We'll move on, like we always do." Lexi replies.

"Yeah, but if anyone…" Ace begins to explains.

"Are you okay?" Lexi asks. Ace pauses and turns to walk to the base of the low set of stairs before stoping to take a breath.

"You did well Duck, be proud of yourself." Ace says to Dcuk to make sure that he's received praise for his efforts tonight.

"Maybe I'm the one who needs to make sure that I'm okay." Ace says to himself before walking off toward their rooms, leaving the other five to wonder what else is hidden behind their usually calm and courageous leader.

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><p><strong>That's it for this story. Please review either by submitting a review or by sending me a PM, it helps me to improve so I can bring you a better story. I'm working on another Loonatics Unleashed story at the moment (2810/14), so hopefully, that will be up soon. **


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